A return…maybe
The Spaniard a.k.a.
Pau Gasol has experienced a hall of fame career. Gasol is 39-years old now, Gasol’s played for
five NBA teams one of them the Lakers. The
7-foot Gasol was a vital key to the back to back championships won in 2009-10. The Lakers acquired Gasol in a February 2008 trade
and with no practice he scored 24 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in
his first game as a Laker. He would
spend 7 seasons with the Lakers prior to leaving for the Bulls in free agency in
2014.
The last few seasons
Gasol has dealt with injury and age, it is likely he’s come to the realization
his NBA career is nearly over. Despite
this issue Gasol has made it known he would like a return to the Lakers to
conclude his NBA career. Gasol will
never have a statue erected outside Staples Center, despite this fact he will
forever remain a fan favorite of mine. I
hope he can return from injury; I hope he is able to return to the Lakers to
conclude his NBA career.
Day of Reckoning
It is not the apocalypse,
but it might as well be for Jayhawk Nation.
Their beloved team is going to be slammed to the mat (excuse the
wrestling phrase) by the NCAA. Despite
the fact the school is making an appeal there are several reasons why a severe
penalty should be forthcoming. The NCAA
needs to make an example of Kansas basketball, for whatever reason they missed
the boat on North Carolina and Duke (so far).
This time with FBI assistance
the NCAA can point an accusatory finger at Bill Self and his program. There have been whispers over the years “The
NCAA only goes after the little guys”, true or not this view has circulated for
decades among college basketball fans. What
is interesting to this writer is why Kansas was involved in this recruiting
story in the first place is a mystery. The
school has a national and world-wide footprint in acquiring talent for the
program.
There would appear
to be no requirement for Kansas to be involved in any hint of illegal recruiting. Question, could the number of
violations under consideration be reduced, most certainly? Question, could Kansas escape
punishment? Not likely, there are just
too many moving parts here for them to escape this time. If for some reason we cannot foresee if
Kansas receives a slap on the wrist, we should know the fix is in. This from someone who is not a conspiracy
theorist.
Did you know?
My favorite NBA team
the Lakers first began play in Detroit; the team played in the National
Basketball League for the 1946-47 season.
They would only last the one season in Detroit; they were sold to business
interests who moved the franchise to Minneapolis for the 1947-48 season. The team was renamed Lakers a reference to the State of Minnesota “The Land of 10,000 Lakes.”
The Minneapolis Lakers would remain in the twin cities until 1959-60.
Bob Short who owned
the team moved them to Los Angeles for the 1960-61 season where they have remained since. The Lakers might not have existed if tragedy
had befallen them January 18, 1960. Flying
from a game against the St. Louis Hawks the Lakers DC-3 crash landed in a
cornfield in Carroll Iowa after getting lost, low on fuel and running into a
blinding snowstorm. The town of Carroll is
about 270 miles south and west of Minneapolis.
The records do not detail how the Lakers eventually made it home but
consider this fact. Owner Short would
have had no opportunity to move if members of the team had perished in that January crash.
Lost in the annals of basketball history
City College of New
York accomplished a feat which will never occur again. The 1949-50 CCNY Beavers won the 1950 NIT
Championship on March 18, then on March 28 they won the NCAA Championship. Imagine that, winning both post season
tournaments in the same year a feat unimaginable in this day. Why is the college basketball history so
devoid of this worthy citation, there is only one answer…gambling?
Several players had
taken money from organized crime figures in 1948-49 during a point shaving
scandal. Point shaving would also occur
in several games in the 1949-50 season although there is no indication there
was any point shaving in the post-season.
Several CCNY players NBA careers were curtailed, in addition the program
decided to withdraw from Division I play.
The story of CCNY is capsulized here due to space, there is a great deal of information available should you be inclined to read more detail.
